Gosh, my heart just lurched as I read Nell's account of Harry's heartbreak. I understand fully why Ginny did what she did...and maybe as Harry came to the conclusion that Ginny simply had simply never felt the way for him that he did for her, maybe she thought the same. Why else would she think that hurting hime would help him? I feel strongly that it's communicaiton, communication, communication. But I also suffer from depression and it's nigh on impossible to make decisions when you are ill with it and also everything has a completely negative slant and you do genuinely believe that those you love would be better off without you. It's a horrible illness and I think it, more than anything, explains Ginny's actions.

But I also wonder if this baby is going to be the key to Ginny's recovery. Her thinking has already changed and it has taken another dramatic turn at the end of this chapter. I sincerely look forward to reading more:)

No Review

I have returned to fanfic after a while and I can't believe I am reading this on SIYE. Not only am I surprised to see this posted here, what's even more surprising is the positive comments. Perhaps, I am too old for fanfic now or maybe I am too much of a purist, but this is just too hard for me to digest. Not only are your characters horrifyingly OOC, you have used every angsty and melodramatic plot cliche out there. I'll try and be constrictive while pointing them out:

The girl who dumps the good 'hero' is dumb, foolish and has to end up with a creep, who leaves her pregnant and poor.

The girl has to start pining for the hero soon after getting dumped. Where was her love when she was 'passionately' in 'love' with the creep?

The only solution to heartbreak is find a steady girlfriend as fast as you can. No, the hero doesn't need time to get past the hurt he has felt, he can't learn to find his own strength. No, we have to bring another woman in the picture within months of the love of his life breaking his heart! Makes me wonder, was it really love on Harry's part? Ginny, I don't even have to ask...


You talk about 'life' and writing a realistic story, how often in real life do people fall in love again so soon after such a devastating heartbreak? More importantly, how often are people in even ready for love in the situation that you have created?

The beauty of h/g was that both of them were good for each other. Just how is this Ginny good for Harry? Just how is this Ginny even related to her canon version?

You want to twist characters out of shape and then argue that things like this can happen in life, then why not try and be real about the other aspects of your story as well.

I don't know whether to call it the smartest Ginny bashing story I've read or the most unbelievable depictions of Ginny.

Author's Response: Thank you for taking the time to respond. As I've stated in previous reviews answers, I won't be trying to convince you how true to life I find this to be. It's clearly not something you'd enjoy reading and I respect that. I also hope this hasn't soured you totally on reading more recent H/G fic b/c there's some awesome ones out there. Happy reading!

No Review

Strong chapter. When an author outlines a narrative, sets the major plot points, and figures out where the characters are going to end up, he or she sort of creates a maze that they then have to work through. It was clear from the first chapter of this story that you had devised for yourself one of the most challenging mazes that I have seen on this site. And although H and G still have a long way to go, you made serious progress in this chapter as far as getting through the maze. We now know a lot more about how Ginny got from Point A to Point B. Do I like or agree with her decisions? Umm, no. Do I think that it is totally plausible that somebody in her shoes would have acted that way? Absolutely. And I really find myself starting to like your present day Ginny. The humor and determination of cannon Ginny are emerging. I loved the bit where Bart returns home. Very funny.

On a side note, I will have to remember the next time that I spend every free second of my weekend taking my kids to soccer games and scout meetings and birthday parties that I am really doing that because I love myself. Hmmm.

And for those who are still reading and leaving nasty reviews for a story that they already troll rated several chapters ago, there is a three-step program for your special brand of masochism: 1) Just; 2) Stop; 3) Reading.


Author's Response: Thank you very much! This a hard maze I designed for myself, but I like a challange. O course, I find myself running head first into hedges a lot, but I can get to other side. I love Bart so much! My ideal guy is not a muscly man's man but that string bean nerdy guy who completely owns who he is. For anyone who reads these responses, when you picture Bart, picture him as Zachary Levi from the tv show "Chuck". And maybe, like Mr. Levi, Bart will break out into a song or two in this world...

Great chapter! I really like your Ginny, she isn't perfect but she is strong.I think the situation between Harry and Ginny is very plausiable, after all they both had been through so much and had to grow up so quickly and were under so much pressure, it makes sense that their relationship would suffer for it. Though the outcome might be different, in my mind I can certainly see the possibility of a conflict arising between Harry's percieved duty as an Auror and his duty to Ginny and their family. Looking forward to more!

Author's Response: Thank you! I love Ginny, too. Something that gets overlooked sometimes is that, when DH ended, they were still teenagers. Mature teenagers, no doubt, but teenagers nonetheless. And teenagers are not always great with long term decision planning. So what seemed logical and sound for an emotionally-drained Ginny at seventeen would not have made sense for the future of her twenty-one/twenty-two year-old self.

Neil is incredibly generous towards Ginny. I'm not sure that she has earned that much support and understanding even if she needs it so badly. Saying that Ginny loves her unborn child and that proves she is strong doesn't quite make sense---we are all programmed to be most protective of our own genetic heritage. In some ways (not all) loving your own child is really about loving yourself and your own hope for biological immortality. Its a lot harder to be strong and selfless for someone else.

Ginny's actions at the end where she decides that her own need for refuge is more important than Harry's need for refuge is consistent with her own worst decisions. She claims to be thinking of Harry but really chooses what is best for herself. Harry was probably right--she was more important to him than he was to her because she made a decision that let her walk away from the wreckage that she was creating for Harry and pretend it wasn't happening.

I think I liked Ginny more in the story before she tried so hard to justify how badly she stomped all over Harry. Just having done it shows who she was at that point in time. Trying to claim some form of heroism for doing it is another form of denial and self-justification--even though when I re-read this chapter she does take some responsibility.

I realize that you are showing Ginny in the process of redemption and its working. I am enjoying the story but this chapter struck some notes that were a little out of tune for me. I look forward to reading more however.



Author's Response:

Thanks for reviewing, I do appreciate it.

I think the older we get, the more we tend to read and process stories through our own life experiences. It's almost our default mode, to judge. We all do it every day of our lives in some form. So with Nell, I wanted her default position to be almost the opposite: Someone who hears the story and believes she's deserving of some kind of forgiveness. She knew Ginny a little before actually knowing about Ginny's past with Harry and I think that helped soften her but one of the steps of redemption (in m opinion) is learning to receive forgiveness. Maybe someday Ginny will learn to accept it from Harry (if he offers it) but in order to do that, she had to take a small step forward first.

At this point, I've come to accept that the Ginny in my story could never have exisisted post-DH to some readers. And that's alright. In reading this, her behavior doesn't match up to their experiences and expectations, but she does to mine. I've gone through physical and emotional trauma and for me, I didn't come out the same way I started. People change, drastically in some cases. It's not pleasant or pretty, but it happens. In my story, with the history I gave them, it is plausible for Ginny to have behaved this way. If others don't agree, okay. I still hope they enjoy the story.

Finally we are getting to know what happened to Ginny. Good job!

Author's Response: Thanks! The journey for Ginny was painful but I think understandable.

I am really hopeful for Ginny and Harry to come thru all this in one piece.
I love Luna!
it is absolutely great that there are two other people who are willingly helpful to both Harry and Ginny.

Ginny is suffering so much as is Harry and I do hope that they will be able to share themselves with one another and soon. I hope they get lionel once and for all,.

Author's Response: Thanks so much! Nell and Bart are one of the reasons I started writing this as opposed to just keeping it in my mind, like a few other dozen stories I have going on up there. I think they're great characters and they play a big role for Harry and Ginny in this story. As for Harry and Ginny sharing, give it (hopefully) a couple of days and you might be rewarded.

I was so excited to see the update notice in my mailbox!! I can't wait for the next chapter. I love how strong Ginny is and the way that she is trying to reclaim herself. You are wirting a phenomenal story.

Author's Response: Thanks! Hopefully, you won't have to wait too long...